Automatic lowering device.



E. WRIGHT & J. J. BORAH. AUTOMATIC LOWBRING DEVCE.

APPLIGAMON HLED PEB.27,1912,

Patented Mar. 18, 1913 2 SHEETS-SHEET lv C. E. WRIGHT & J. J. BORAH.

AUTOMATIC LOWBRING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED P28427. 1012A Patented Mar. 18, 1913.

2 SHEETSHSHEET Z,

@Hanau /I l/ if STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLARBEN E. WRIGHT, OI' BONILLA, ANB JAMES 3. BORAH, 0F HURON, SOUTH DAKOTA.

I AUTOMATIC LOWEBING DEVICE.

Speeication of Letten Patent.

Patented Mar. 18, 1913.

Application vlecl February 27, 1919.. Serial No. 680,158.

To all whom. it may concern Be it known that we, Cii'aaarm E. Wnim: and J Aims J. Benin citizens of the United States, residing at lionilla and Huron, re-

spectively, in the county of Beadle and State of South Dakota, have invented new and useful improvements in Automatic Lowering Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to automatic lowerin devices, the object in view being to provi e a simple, compact and effective deyice for lowering persons or loads of any kind, without any assistance, the device embodyin friction brake mechanism which will ta e care of itself in accordance with the tension at which the device is set to operate, this being controlled by means, having in connection therewith, an indicator adagting the device, as a whole,to be set to wor under the stress of a load of any predetermined weight.

The invention is particularly designed for use as a tire escape t0 enable Sersons to rapidly descend from the win ows or other openings of a burning structure, and on account of the comgactness and economy in manufacture of t e device, it will have a large field of usefulness as a large number of the devices may be placed in stores, factories publie and private buildings, hotels, and the like, and will enable people to descend rapidly by means of the device with perfect safety.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereunto appended.

In the accompanying drawings: i ure 1 is a side elevation of the lowering evice. Fig. 2 is a vertical lon itudinal sectional view through the same. ig. 8 is a vertical 4 5 cross section on the line af-a of Fig. 2. Fig.

4 is a detail cross section on either of the lines b-b of Fi 2.

The lowering evice contem lated in this invention comprises a casing w iich also con- 60 stitutes asupporting frame for the operative parts of the mechanism contained therein, this frame embodying the, opposite heads 1 and 2, which are connected securely together by means of a hood 3 securel fas- 55 tened thereto, as shown in Fig. 2, said lieads or end pieces being further connected at the bottom by a bar 4, which also forms a track for a traveler or cable guide, hereinafter more particularly described.

One of the end pieces or heads l of the frame is provided with an inwardly extendin circumferential flange 5, at the inner e ge of which is an inwardly turned friction flange 6 having applied to the outer face thereof a friction band or surface 7 a corresponding friction band or surface 8 being applied to the other head or end piece 2 of the frame, upon the inner side thereof, as clearly shown. in Fig. 2.

Mounted rotatably within the combined frame and casing above described is a drum of hollow construction, the same embodying the disk-shaped end walls 9 and l0 and the eripheral wall 11, one of the end walls 9 eing removable to ive access to the interior of the drum, w ich is filled with any suitable liquid or Huid, for a purpose whic i. will hereinafter appear.

As shown, the end walls of the hollow drum are connected and held in fixed relation to each other by parallel guide rods ll". These uide rods are rovided, at their ends, with nuts 12 adapting the same to be removed, and also permitting the drum to be taken apart to get at the mechanism contained therein.

13 and 14 designate lowering cables which are wound around the drum.

Extending centrally through the drum and frame or casing is a stationary hollow threaded main supportin shaft 15. One end of said shaft is reduce and shouldered, as shown at 16, and enters a corresponding opening in the adjacent end iecc or head l o the rame where it is hel from rotating by means of one or more keys 17, or the equivalents thereof. The op osite end ol' said shaft is received in a soclieted oiset 18 1n the opxposite end piece 10 of the rotary drum, w ile the drum 6 is provided with a hub-like extension 19 which is received in a. socket 2O in the end wall 2 of the frame or casing. The construction just described enables the drum to turn within the frame or casing and around the stationary threaded shaft 15.

21 designates a traveling iston which is movable endwise within t e drum and len thwise upon the stationary shaft 15. This piston is provided with holes, at 22, for the guide rods 11, thus causing said piston to revolve with the drum, and as said piston lill?.

lli

is internally threaded to agree with the threads ofthe shaft l5, it will bev apparent that as the drum rotates the piston is moved from one end of the c linder to the other, said piston being rovi ed with a small port 23.through the bo y. thereof, which will permit the liquid or fluid to pass slowly throu h said port from one side of the piston to t 1e other, and act with the desired resistance to such movement. It will further be understood that owin to the back-pressure of the liquid or fluid against the side of the piston, the drum. as a whole, will be pressed inthe opposite direction, so as to brmg one end thereof against the corresponding friction surface 7 or 8, as the case may e, the drum being free to slide for a limited distance on and relative to the shaft 15.

The shaft l5 is hollow or provided with a central longitudinal bore, in which is arranged a valve stem 24 rovided at two points with regulating va ves 25, each of said valves being provided with a port or outwardly flaring passage 26 adapted, by the partial rotation of the valve, to open or close a corresponding port 27 in the shaft 15 the ports 27 and the valves 25 being arranged adjacent to the opposite ends of the drum, whereby when the enlarged hub 28 of the piston nearly reaches the end of its throw in either direction, it is adagted to cover one of said ports and there y yieldingly and gradually arrest the further movement of the piston, and consequently the further rotation of the drum carrying the lowering cables. The arrangement described serves to check the speed of the device, causing the cable to descend more slowly, as the latter ap )roaches the end of its travel, thereby ma ing an easier and safer landing for the person operating the device. The drum is allowed to keep on rotating at a much slower rate of speed iowever, by means of the veut through the body of the piston itself, until a complete landing is safely effected. Furthermore, by adjusting the valves by means of the stem 24, the ra idity of flow of the liquid or fluid throng the ports 27 and lengthwise of the hollow shaft outward again to o posite side of the piston may be regulate according to the weight to be imposed u on the cable. Fast on the end of the stern 2 is an indicator hand 29 adapted to register with graduations on one end of the casin or frame, as shown at 30, said graduations avin numbers indicatingI the proper wei ht to e imposed upon t e lowering cab e. This enables the device to be set for any predetermined wei ht. Where the shaft 15 passes through t e end wall 9 of the drum, there is arranged a stuffing box 31 while another stuffing box 32 is provi ed for the point where the stem 24 passes through the end wall 1 of theframe or main casing.

33 desi ates one or more piston rings, with whic the piston 21 is equipped, in order to insure close contact between the periphery of the piston and inner wall of the drum.

Mounted to slide on the track 4 is a traveler, consisting Aof the upper bar or section 34, and a lower bail-shaped section 35 which extends under the track 4. The bar 34 has its opposite ends supported on inwardly extending flan es 36 at the bottom of the casing, and sai bar is provided at or near its opposite ends with apertures 37, through which the cables 13 and 14 pass. It will lbe observed that as the cable 13 is drawn downwardly and as it unreels from the drum, the traveler moves lengthwise of the track 4, and thereby guides the other cable upon the drum, so as to occupy the same position previously occupied by the cable 13. If desired, an auxihary drum or spool 38 may be arranged adjacent to the main frame or casing, u on which the unwound cable may be store preparatory to using the device in practice. s the first cable, however, is unwound from the drum to lower a person or object, the other cable is relieved of its weight. In this way, the device may be alternately used in connection with the different cables, and one person after another may rapidly descend from a burning building, it onl being necessary to set the indicator-han 29 at the graduation represent ing the approximate weight of the person or obJect to e lowered. The speed of rotation of the drum, and consequently the speed of travel of the downwardl moving cable is governed by the size of t e port 23 and the size of the ports 27, through which the liquid passes m its movement from one side to the other, durin the travel of the piston len thwise of the s aft 15.

l hat is claimed is:

1. A device of the class specified, embodying a stationary frame, a friction surface thereon, a hollow cylindrical drum mounted in said frame for rotary and endwise movement toward and away from said friction surface a piston movable within and endwise of the drum, a stationary threaded shaft on which the piston is threaded, a cable passing around said drum, and means ermittmg a slow movement of the liquid rom one side of the iston to the other. 2. A device of the c ass described, embody* mg a stationary frame, a friction surface thereon, a hollow cylindrical drum mounted 1n said frame for rotary and endwise movement toward and awa from said friction surface, a stationary tireaded shaft within said drum rovided with ports near the ends of the rum, means for regulating the size of said ports, a piston having a poi-t therethrough and movable within and endwise of the drum and also adapted to cover and uncover the shaft ports, and a cable passing around said drum.

3. A device of the class specified, embodying a stationary frame, a friction surface thereon, a hollow cylindrical drum mounted in said frame for rotary and endwise movement toward and away from said friction surface, a hollow stationary threaded shaft having ports at and near the ends of the drum, a pistonmovable within and endwise of the drum and adapted to cover said ports one at a time and also provided with a port therein for the passage of the liquid, and a cable ipassing around said drum.

4. device of the class specified, embodying a frame havin friction surfaces at opposite ends thereo a revolving hollow cy- CLARREN E. WRIGHT. JAMES J. BORAH.

Witnesses:

T. W. DAwsnN, F. W. J AMES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for nve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. O. 

